Rick Arseneault Voice Overs: Want to get an "In" into VO work? Try volunteering.

In the lines of work I did, I used to get it all the time that I "should be on radio" or doing commercials - and those are all great compliments. Its does take more to doing voiceover than just jumping behind a mic and talking. It takes practice, patience and persistence.

Practice - Not just reading out loud to yourself, although it doesn't hurt, but doing the read on a mic and recording it as a dry run or for the real thing
Patience - You are highly unlikely to be the next Don Lafontaine, Ted Williams, Bill Lyman or one of the multitude or trademark voices you hear everyday and can't put a name on it. You are you, and you will learn with each script you read. You will get better and more people will like your work.
Persistence - Keep doing it. There is a saying I heard about doing VO's and that "work begets work". Keep chanting that mantra in your head and keep archiving what you did. One job will lead to another.

But how do you get started? Whats "the" or "a" first step?

Try volunteering.
Yeah, I know, its free. Crazy, what? But here is the silver lining - "Work begets work". If you can't show someone you can do it, why hire you and not the next guy? When you've done it, someone will hear and believe.

And where would you go and volunteer? Well, for starters, there is always associations that do work for the vision impaired (in Canada, we have VoicePrint or CNIB). Also, some cable companies here in Canada (like Rogers and RogersTV) have volunteer programs that allow you to create some of the magic behind the camera and train you in various aspects, or just give you a chance to be On air.
Why would I advocate this route ? Because donating my time and skills for one of these volunteer organizations helped open doors to VO work for myself and helped give back to the community. And I am likely going to do it again, having just auditioned for another volunteer organization to donate my voice to some of their projects. Why not help make something a little better whilst trying to make your life a little better?